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Post by Icctrombone on Nov 13, 2020 21:04:22 GMT -5
I was reading a Bronze Age Superman book when is started thinking about the famous " Kryptonite Nevermore" arc that started in Superman # 233. He loses half his powers when a Sand creature appears to drain him. Thor also, had his powers stripped from him a few times by Odin. Which other heroes had periods or arcs where they lost their powers ?
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Post by spoon on Nov 13, 2020 21:37:32 GMT -5
There was a Spider-Girl arc that lasted several issues where she lost her powers.
Of course, Hal Jordan gave up his power ring for a while and with that went his powers.
If I recall correctly, the Flash (Wally West) temporarily lost his powers at some point during the William Mesner-Loebs run.
Hank Pym, either as Giant-Man or Goliath, got stuck at around 20 feet. That could in a sense because considered a loss or decrease of powers, because he was unable to alter his size.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 13, 2020 23:25:18 GMT -5
Wonder Woman gave up her Amazonian heritage and powers, at the start of the Diana Prince, Wonder Woman era.
Jean Grey, as Phoenix, was depowered temporarily, a couple of times, before they remanifested. Of course, that wasn't her, even though it was.
Carol Danvers lost her Ms Marvel powers to Rogue, then was altered into Binary, then depowered back to Warbird/Ms Marvel/Captain Marvel/Aunt Marvel or whatever they are calling her this week.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2020 23:50:31 GMT -5
Doctor Strange has been depowered, then repowered, then depowered on a regular basis since his series ended in the 90s, it seems no one can figure out anything to do with him without stripping away his magical powers and sending him on a quest to get them back or defeat those who took them away.
-M
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Post by jason on Nov 13, 2020 23:51:49 GMT -5
Ben Grimm temporarily turned human for a while around 1989 or so, but of course it didnt stick.
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Post by foxley on Nov 13, 2020 23:55:03 GMT -5
During the JLA Satellite Era, Zatanna's magical powers were reduced to control over the four basic elements: earth, air, water and fire.
When Wally West first became the Flash, his superspeed was limited to running at the speed of sound.
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Post by brutalis on Nov 14, 2020 4:44:57 GMT -5
70's Cap had his strength increased to Super-strength levels for awhile and then back to "normsl". He again lost his Super Soldier serum vitality essentially aging him later in the 90's I believe.
Iron Fist has constantly had stories with his powers being stolen or increased then decreased.
Nighthawk was crippled at one point and unable to walk by day, only his power of increased strength during the night being capable of allowing him to walk or be his normal heroic self.
Pym was mentioned earlier but both he and the Atom had being stuck at tiny size issues. Atom's delivering him to micro dimensional size on a barbarian level world while Pym at ant-size.
Richard Rider had his Nova Centurion powers removed only to find he still had a portion of them within himself when Night Thrasher tossed him off a building (what a bud) to reactivate them.
Namor lost his ability to fully function as an amphibious hero who had to wear a suit created by Reed Richard's in order to keep him hydrated for staying alive, staying alive,ooo, oooo, ooo.
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Post by Icctrombone on Nov 14, 2020 7:01:29 GMT -5
In Fantastic Four # 39 they had to simulate their powers after losing them in an radioactive explosion while fighting the Frightful Four.
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Post by Cei-U! on Nov 14, 2020 9:45:12 GMT -5
Some (mostly minor) additions and corrections:
Hank Pym lost the ability to shrink in Tales to Astonish #67, not regaining it until Avengers #35. As Goliath, he was stuck at 10 feet (not 20) from Avengers #29-35. He then lost his power to grow in Avengers #49 until The Collector restored it two issues. He was stuck at ant-size throughout his Marvel Feature run (#4-10).
Dr. Strange foreswore his powers at the conclusion of Incredible Hulk #126, not taking them up again until Marvel Feature #1.
The Thing was "permanently" changed back to Ben Grimm in Fantastic Four #168, began wearing an exoskeleton two issues later, and was restored to his "normal" self in #175. He also appeared in the exoskeleton in Avengers #151, Marvel Two-in-One #20, and MTiO Annual #1.
The effects of the Super-Soldier serum were removed from Captain America in CA #225-26 in 1978.
Finally, The Atom was stuck at 6", not sub-microscopic size, in Sword of The Atom #1. The alien barbarians he lived among thereafter dwelt in a hidden city in the Amazon rain forest. They were from the planet Katharta, which was not in a microverse but in the Earth-One universe.
Cei-U! Hopes he never loses his power of comics trivia retention!
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Post by Prince Hal on Nov 14, 2020 13:48:57 GMT -5
Not sure if this counts as losing one's powers, but the non-super-powered Batman has been sidelined more than a few times by all kinds of injuries. Right leg broken... Blinded by Dr. Pneumo...Right leg broken again... One time in "The Wheelchair Crimefighter ( Batman 61)," he had both legs broken and fought crime in an electric wheelchair he designs for the occasion, until he finfs out that the doctor who said he had broken his legs was lying, and working for the bad guys. And there was this classic power loss in JLA 36... BTW, GA shows that he was descended from a certain Black Knight...
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,049
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Post by Confessor on Nov 14, 2020 14:25:25 GMT -5
Don't think Spider-Man has been mentioned yet. He's lost or been stripped of his powers a number of times.
I think the earliest instance was in Lee & Ditko's Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, when he fought the Sinister Six. If memory serves this loss of powers was entirely psychosomatic though.
Then he lost some of his powers, like being able to stick to walls, in that Lee/Ditko issue of ASM where he was unmasked by Doctor Octopus (I forget the issue number). I think that was because he had a cold...maybe??
Much later on, during the Spider-Mobile era in the early '70s, the Tinker concocted a gas that robbed Spidey of his ability to stick to walls.
I'm sure there have been other instances as well, but those are the ones I recall off of the top of my head.
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Post by Dizzy D on Nov 14, 2020 15:17:49 GMT -5
I think just about any superheroes had their superpowers removed or decreased for a story or arc, so I'll focus on those who had more long term changes to their powers: Moon Knight: In his first appearances he had superstrength under a full moon, which he suspected as the result of a werewolf bite in his first appearance. I don't think this aspect very long and he's portrayed as a very skilled human for most of his appearances onwards. Rogue: Rogue had, in addition to her own powerstealing powers, permanently absorbed the powers of Ms. Marvel. During the late 90s she lost these powers and hasn't regained them. With more control over her own powers, she focused on copying/draining powers from allies as the situation commands rather than permanently absorbing one set of powers. Storm was depowered for several years due to Forge's invention. Power Girl lost most of her Kryptonian powers for a long time during the JLE-era, leaving her "only" strong, tough and capable of flight. Spiderwoman (Jessica Drew) lost most of her powers for many years after a fight with Morgan LeFey, leaving her only with her ability to stick to walls. She was only repowered when she reappeared in the Avengers about 20 years later.
Edit: I forgot the one I actually was intending to start the post with! Miss America in the Golden Age had superhuman strength ("equal to a thousand men"), flight and wisdom. In her Silver Age appearances, she only had the ability to jump high and glide.
Nocturne, daughter of Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Witch had the ability to possess other beings and to fire hexbolts from her hands. When Claremont put her into his Excalibur revival, she lost the hexbolt ability without explanation.
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Post by Calidore on Nov 14, 2020 19:21:49 GMT -5
Not powers as such, but Green Arrow under Mike Grell worked without the trick arrows and once didn't allow a visiting Hal Jordan to pull out his ring to help with a situation. No sonic scream for Black Canary either.
I read a reprint somewhere of that Superman issue in the OP as a kid (in "From the 30s to the 70s", maybe?), but never saw the followups. Where did that storyline end up going?
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Post by Duragizer on Nov 14, 2020 21:34:20 GMT -5
I read a reprint somewhere of that Superman issue in the OP as a kid (in "From the 30s to the 70s", maybe?), but never saw the followups. Where did that storyline end up going? All kryptonite on Earth was rendered inert, Clark got a new job as a news anchor, and Supes had half his power transferred into a "Sand Superman", depowering him to the point where he was no longer able to travel through space under his own power, move planets, and other Silver Age feats. And immediately after the storyline concluded, Supes' depowering was ignored and he was back to shrugging off supernovae.
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Post by MWGallaher on Nov 14, 2020 23:02:11 GMT -5
When the Sub-Mariner's comic book was revived with issue 33 in 1954, he was, to quote the later issue 38, "hardly more than an unusually strong half-human, retaining only the one amazing faculty of living below the ocean's surface!" That is, no wings on his feet allowing him to fly, no superhuman resistance, strength and stamina, just a well-built guy who could breath underwater. This diminished version of the character must not have been going over well, because the aforementioned issue 38 gave him bullet-proof skin, super-strength, and regrew the tiny ankle wings that implausibly allowed him to fly. Over in chadwilliam's Spectre thread, you can see how the Spectre lost the ability to be visible to humans in a pretty significant step down in the middle of a more gradual diminution of his supernatural abilities that, unlike the invisibility, was not specifically explained; he just stopped doing a lot of the more impressive stuff he could do early on. His More Fun Comics stable-mate Dr. Fate also gradually stepped down from a magical hero capable of astounding mystical feats to a crime-fighting M.D. who mostly just ran through the air and socked people with his fists.
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